Outside the comfort zone

I recently pushed myself outside of the comfort zone and decided to join a fitness class. Not just any fitness class, mind you, but Crossfit 56.

For anyone who knows me, you understand how big of a decision this was for me. For those who don’t know me, lets just say, I was always one of those awkward girls who stood in the corner during junior high gym class and counted the seconds until the bell rang. I also always prayed the ball would never come to me — no matter what sport we were playing.

I’m not the least bit athletic. I once tried yoga for a week and spent money on a “Hip Hop Abs” workout video, which is still buried under some old DVDs I should probably take to Goodwill.

I’ve never been able to complete a full pull-up or push-up; running makes me nauseous; and I have to lift 15 pounds with two hands.

So what forced me to go from zero-to-100, and sign-up for one of the hardest workout courses?

It all started with my other problem — saying “no” to friends, particularly my close friend, (lets call her “Kat Woman” in this column). It was all her idea.

We were sitting there eating lunch on our regular Tuesday afternoon, when she casually suggested I check out the new Crossfit gym with her. I was about to shovel a spoonful of soup into my mouth, when my stomach dropped, and I began to feel the bead of sweat form on my forehead.

Before I could come up with an excuse, I head myself give a quiet, weak, “Suuuure.”

It must be a curse, but I just can’t say “no” to my friends. Even if it sometimes means putting me in an inconvenient state, I still find myself agreeing to their suggestions.

I knew Crossfit wouldn’t be an easy endeavor. I had heard horror stories of people not being able to walk after the workouts and others experiencing injuries from pushing themselves too hard.

However, I couldn’t let Kat Woman down. I ignored the negative rumors of Crossfit, swallowed my fears and laced up my tennis shoes.

Walking into a gym for the first time is never easy, especially for a lady. It’s full of sweaty smells, muscular men who talk loud and people who give you stares that say they’re judging you by your athletic ability.

Thank God I had my friend at my side because I may have just turned around and pretended I had the wrong gym class.

On our first day, our instructor wasted no time teaching us the Crossfit ways. We jumped rope, attempted squats, rowed 500 meters and lifted weights — on a 15-pound bar with weights on each side. The sight of me lifting a bar full of weight is just hysterical.

I could barely get out of bed the next day. It wasn’t pleasant getting ready for work that morning, however, I couldn’t hide the feeling of accomplishment. I had forced myself into one of the most challenging endeavors of my adult life, and I was feeling OK with it — Crazy!

The feeling encouraged me to go back two days later, and two days after that and two days after that and so on.

Kat Woman and I are just making it to our one-month mark at Crossfit 56, and we’re addicted. We’ve learned to love the burn, accept the challenge and push ourselves to be more fit. The results have already got us feeling giddy.

We now look forward to Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. We get to leave work a little early and face a new test each day.

And walking out that gym door, knowing we’ve done something good for ourselves and have achieved something we never imagined a year ago, is why we will keep going back.